snow + football = a bad combination
What do you get when you put two good defensive football teams in the middle of a snowstorm?
We discovered the answer to that riddle at Alta High in the 2A championship game over the weekend. The first big winter storm started dumping snow around halftime and completely changed the complexion of the final two quarters.
Neither South Summit or San Juan could finish drives in the cold and slippery conditions created by the snow. In the end, it offered a deceptive looking 7-0 final that boosted the Broncos to their second state title in the last five years and dropped the Wildcats to 0-3 all-time in 2A title game appearances.
It seems kind of ironic that the weather created such a low scoring game since South Summit and San Juan distinguished themselves as the top two defensive teams in 2A all season. Going into the game. the Broncos had allowed just 11.2 points per game and the Wildcats gave up just 9.6 points per contest.
The funny thing is both teams were also at the top in offensive production as well. San Juan averaged 32.9 points per game, while the Wildcats scored at a clip of 33.5 points per game. Having their single second-quarter touchdown decide everything made the Broncos feel fortunate they could take advantage before the weather snatched away momentum from both teams.
“We were just lucky to score first and score early,” San Juan coach Monty Lee told me after the game. “Then the weather conditions took both teams out of what they like to do.”
The snow died down by the time the 1A championship game started, but the cold and slippery condition of the field — and the football — took its toll for Rich and Duchesne. The Rebels were much more dominant than the 25-0 final score indicated and would have likely won by a much larger margin if not for a plethora of turnovers.
Still, you had to be impressed with the play of Bradley Holmes in inclement weather. The senior piled up 399 all-purpose yards. He beat the Eagles defense into submission through the air and on the ground and even caught a 14 yard pass for good measure. With both Holmes and the Rich defense performing at peak levels, it never truly felt like Duchesne was in the game through any of the four quarters.
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Saturday ended up being memorable for me for all the wrong reasons. Shortly after finishing up post-game interviews with San Juan players and coaches, I returned to the press box where I briefly lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.
I’m not entirely sure of the cause, though I suspect it was a combination of dehydration and fatigue. It gave a scare to my Deseret News colleague Trevor Phibbs, who served as an eyewitness to the whole episode, and alarmed the Alta High administrators who also saw what happened. I am appreciative of their quick thinking in getting me fluids and monitoring my condition after I regained consciousness.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to Trevor and to Sarah Thomas, another Deseret News colleague, for stepping in and helping out during the 1A title game. Trevor filled in live blogging for me during the game and Sarah took over writing duties on the story originally assigned to me.
Two days later, I’m finally almost 100 percent again and armed with a new appreciation on the merits of drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of rest in between reporting assignments.
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